P01_The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

P01_The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

I. Setup
Create an additional child node (off the central idea) for the ‘Preamble’ and each ‘Article’ of the actual document. Label each of the nodes respectively: Preamble, Article #1, Article #2, Article #3, etc. until you have all 13 Articles.

A. Assign a member of your group to a certain number of Articles in the original document.B. The assigned student must ‘translate’ the given Article into plain, simple, 21st C. English. Assume you are translating for another person who does not have your background knowledge. Write your translation in the mind map node dedicated to the Article you were assigned.C. Any student that may have completed their assigned translation should be editing the writing of other group members who are still translating or reviewing someone else’s translation.

Tip: When translating (for brevity, conciseness, and clarity) the translated text is often shorter (fewer words) than the original.

II. Dissection of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union begins.

Unlike the Declaration of Independence, but similar to the United States Constitution, the Articles of Confederation was to be a framework for a new government. In this instant, the Articles of Confederation is supposed to convert the former 2nd Continental Congress framework into a functioning government that can take it’s place among the nations of the world, as an ‘equal’.

Like all sovereign nations, there are certain things we can expect a nation to have the power to do. In addition, the conditions under which a nation performs it’s duties changes over time. We should always consider how a government’s authority is affected by the changes in the circumstances that develop over time. I submit these questions to your group so that they may be used as a ‘scalpel’ in your dissection of the document.

The accuracy and completeness of the document’s translation by your group will be ‘put to the test’ as you zero-in on the relevant Article/ Section.

A. What is the relationship between the States and the central government? Who is ‘sovereign’?

B. In what context is Slavery mentioned or alluded to, if any?

C. How long is the membership within this union supposed to last?

D. How will ‘new’ states be created and admitted into the union?

E. How are government debts to be paid?

Under no circumstances are you to believe that these five questions are the ONLY questions that the author(s) of this document had. For brevity sake, I limited this segment of our investigation to these important questions.

III. Word Cloud Analysis

Using a word cloud generating application, create a word cloud of your document. Insert an image of that word cloud into your mindmap and complement it with an analysis of the word cloud. What could have been the overriding issues of the document author(s)?

IV. Presentation Focus Question

Look at the phase II questions I gave your group. These questions were meant to aid in discovering the governing framework envisioned by the authors. As a point for comparison with another group’s document, be prepared to offer a concise description of the author’s intent/ desire regarding:

-Slavery?
-Raising funds (pay debts, pay government efforts like military, etc.)?
-The nature of the union/ confederation? (State to State, State to Congress, All the States to Congress, etc.)